"One of the researchers hopes that this could lead to artificially reducing the amount of sleep required in your average human."

Great, another non-problem close to being solved. Thanks science. All I need now is a 3rd arm so that I can work my Blackberry while typing on my laptop. Perhaps they can solve my pesky habit of taking "breaks from work".

How is it that all this technology and progress is enabling us to work even more? Wasn't all this crap supposed to make our lives easier and not harder? What will sleeping less accomplish exactly? Will it allow me to tweet more? Wonderful. Will it increase my happiness? I highly doubt it.

I'd mod this up if I could. It's the best peripheral I have ever used. It feels like a big old vintage trackball from Missile Command or Centipede, and it has a bunch of good options for the 4 buttons and the mousewheel. It's very precise and easy to control. Great for massive copying and pasting jobs.

Here's some related desk pr0n...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simoncarr/3415723327/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simoncarr/1691475117/

This is the largest stumbling block, sure. Also while reading the times I'm sure it would be inconvenient to be attacked by flying penises.

see subj.

So how much easier would a more mature micropayment system make almost every information transaction? Hell, at this point Second Life Lindens are starting to look like a good currency for this type of thing.

Just came here to say this and it's worth repeating. Total agreement with [not already in use].

The label "idiot" is something the tech/geek community seems to throw about liberally and it sort of makes me ashamed.

I find a lot of people brand someone an "idiot" because they don't share the same obsessive attention to detail that they do to one particular subject, but then turn around and wonder why that person is a success at another endeavor.

Just different strokes. Everyone can't be good at everything, and just because DudeFellaX is good at Perl, doesn't mean he knows sweet dick all about making money too like DudeFellaY might.

From another view.. you, dear article submitter, could be the idiot.